Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Audi India has showcased two new cars that they would be displaying during 2013 Frankfurt Motor show in September this year. The name of two new cars though not disclosed but teased are here via an image. Audi says that they would be unveiling the cars through their online channel, Audi Media TV, on August 21.

The new Audi underneath this silver cover is undoubtedly the new Audi A8. The refreshed Audi A8 would come with Matrix LED lights and the exteriors could be tweaked a little bit to give it a fresh feel. The other car seems to be Audi Quattro as you can see it from the grill.

More details of the cars should be unveiled on 21st August 2013. Watch out the Video here.

Ford India EcoSport has already started exports to South Africa and to Nepal as well. The company did not confirmed the number of units exports but soon the same will be revealed as the month comes to an end.

The EcoSport would be shipped from Chennai port. As per sources, the Chennai port has allocated a parking space of 500 cars to Ford India. A mix of all three engine variants - 1.0L EcoBoost, 1.5L Petrol and 1.5L Diesel engine will be exported to the destination.

The South African media report prices ranging from about 215,000 South African Rand (INR 13.04 lakhs) to 260,000 Rand (INR 15.8 lakhs). An official price announcement has not been made though as of now.

Ford will manufacture the EcoSport in five global locations – Elabuga in Russia, Rayong in Thailand, Chennai in India, Camacari in Brazil and Chongqing in China. The vehicle will be retailed in 62 countries by the year 2017.

BMW, the luxury car market leader last year is now at number three with Audi and Mercedes being ahead. The German car maker now wants to be back in the volume game. Also, you could term that this is the effect of Audi Q3 forming news of a locally manufactured unit. Before Audi could do it, BMW wants to capture the market through the thrown idea and has floated across an exchange offer and thus pricing X1 lower.

You can exchange your old car and take home the BMW X1 with an attractive price tag of INR 24.99 Lakh. BMW X1 any day forms a better option than the Audi's Q baby. The BMW machine comes with a 2.0L Turbocharged diesel engine which delivers a power output of 184 PS and 380 Nm torque. BMW X1 also comes with a 8 speed automatic gearbox compared to Audi's 6-speed manual transmission.

Our regular readers would be well aware that Hyundai will reading up their Compact SUV which will rival the Ford EcoSport, Renault Duster, the upcoming Chevrolet Trax and VW Taigun.

The compact crossover which started its testing run in South Korea has now find its space on our webspace too. Brazilian monthly Auto Esporte presents us with a new rendering with inputs provided by a Hyundai insider from its headquarters.

As you look at the Compact SUV, you could easily spot that the car is from Hyundai with its typical characteristic lining and their unique fluidic design. Moreover, the hexagonal grill adds to the belief which you would also find on many other Hyundai cars. Even the headlamps looks to be quite similar to our Hyundai i20 hatchbacks.

As expected, there is a flat roof which gradually tapers towards the end and below that the tail lights which you would see move towards the fenders. This could be one of the few new products that Hyundai India is gearing up to launch in the Indian market. The first one to come out of Hyundai factory in Chennai would be a new small car which would sit between i10 and i20. The Mini SUV for sure, would be one that would be most awaited by almost every car enthusiast in the country.

Monday, 29 July 2013

Tata Motors and ISRO (Indian Space Research organization) in their first ever success have developed a completely environment friendly bus which will run on Hydrogen as a fuel. It's a CNG-type bus. Hydrogen in bottles at high pressure is stored at the top of the bus and there would be zero pollution.

ISRO has a very rich technology in producing, storing and handling gaseous and liquid hydrogen in the last three decades. Its expertise is also in safety. An ISRO team had generated technical specifications for all the elements and general specifications for the bus.

Gandhi, a Padmashree awardee and retired scientist from ISRO, and Dr M Raja, DGM of TML made the announcement the two organisations have developed fuel cell bus for the first time in India, which will run on Hydrogen.

"This is a leap for automobile industry for future transportation. In this vehicle there will be zero pollution since the product of cold combustion is water. This is a result of great team work of Tata Motors and ISRO specialists with contributions from DSIR ( Department of Scientific and Industrial Research) and PESO ( Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organisation)," Gandhi told PTI here.

Honda Cars India have launched their first Diesel sedan in India and has subsequently gained from it. The company is now very much confident about its results from India and has been investing significantly since then. The company will be launching Diesel powered Honda City and also a small 1.2L Diesel engine soon.

Till then to keep the momentum up, the car maker has decided to increase its production of Amaze by adding a third shift at its Greater Noida plant. The carmaker plans to reduce its waiting period by 2 months from currently 4-5 months.

Mr. Jnaneshwar Sen, Senior Vice President said -

"The demand for Amaze has been so strong and we still continue to have more bookings. In order to reduce the waiting period, we have decided to start a third shift at the Greater Noida plant by November"
Honda is also in the process of setting up an assembly line at its Tapukara facility which would double the company’s annual production capacity to 2,40,000 units by 2014.

If you are a regular reader of Wheel-O-Mania, you would be knowing that Maruti Suzuki is working upon a mini LCV which would be the first product to mark its presence in Light Commercial Vehicle segment. The vehicle which is currently under development is codenamed as Y9T and will be launched in 2015.

The country's largest car maker is also working on the Diesel engine which is a 2 cylinder 0.8L engine and is also scheduled to be ready by 2015. This is currently called as small diesel engine and will power the YL7 vehicle, which will be launched soon as replacement of A-Star and Estilo with only petrol variant and will be re-introduced in 2015 with the Diesel engine.

The Diesel engine will also power the LCV and is expected to be rolled out from the Sanand factory. However no confirmation on the same has been done by the Japanese car maker. Also, it is still under discussion that whether the new car will be sold through the existing Maruti dealerships or new dealerships for Commercial vehicles will be made.

In one of the recent recalls, GM India recalled 1.14 Lakh
units of Diesel powered Tavera, which is exclusively built for Indian market
here, the company has been taking the matter seriously and has also sacked 25
of its senior executive involved in the quality issue. This also includes their
GM Operations and CFO of the group including other senior executives.

The American carmaker stopped the production of Tavera and
Sail twins in the beginning of June 2013 when it encountered the quality issue with
their diesel engines. Since, then we have been hearing that the American car
maker would restart the production by end of July or early August. However, as
per the recent news, the car maker could also recall the newly launched diesel
variant of Sail sedan and Sail U-VA hatchback. However no official confirmation
on the same has been claimed by the company.

Mr. P. Balendran, Vice president, Corporate affairs says –

“We have yet not arrived at any decision as of now, however
all the possible options are being looked upon”

Meanwhile, GM has identified a fix for the Tavera and say
that the catalytic converter of the MUV would be replaced. In certain cars, the
fuel pipe would also be replaced. Mr. Balendran said –

“We have identified the problem and the dealers have been
informed on the issue to change the required spare part. The entire exercise
would take around 35-45 minutes at the service station and would be performed
free of charge”

Force Motors, in an attempt to attract more buyers, has
introduced a base variant “EX” at a price of INR 8.99 Lakh. It’s been almost
two years that the home grown Force Motors which has a considerable market
share in Medium duty commercial vehicles including the re-knowned 11 seater
Traveller currently produced at its Pithampur plant near Indore.

The car maker has not found many buyers for its bulky SUV
despite of its value for money offering and also the engine being sourced by
Daimler and claims that suspension tuned by Lotus engineering. The car maker
has now introduced an base version at a price which would attract sedan buyers
too.

The base variant will be powered by a 4 cylinder 2596cc
Diesel turbocharged engine mated to a G32 five speed manual transmission. The
engine produces a power of 82 PS @ 3,200 rpm and a torque of 230 N-m @ 1800-2000
rpm. The engine is for sure underpowered as compared to higher variants which
are powered by 2.2L FMTech Daimler diesel engine producing a power output of
141 PS @ 3,800 rpm and 321 N-m @ 1600 rpm.
The mid variant starts at INR 11.70 Lakh and goes upto INR 12.06 Lac,
ex-showroom New Delhi.

The base variant though underpowered still features power
steering, front fog lamps, A/c, central locking and steel wheels.

Sunday, 28 July 2013

In a rare case of clash between the superbikers and the Delhi Police, one biker was killed and one another injured at Windsor place in New Delhi.

The incident occurred between 2am - 2:15am when the police was informed that a group of superbiker were attempting dangerous stunts on Delhi roads. The PCR van reached on the spot and shot some of the bullets in air in an attempt to catch them . However, no one stopped. In another attempt, the Delhi Police tried to stop them by puncturing the tires of their bike when accidentally it hit the back of one of them named, "Karan Pandey".

Pandey was riding pillion on Punit Sharma's bike, who was injured in the incident. Both of them were rushed to Ram Manohar Lohiya hospital, where Pandey was declared dead. Sharma was found to be drunk when tests were carried out at the hospital.

As per the reports, some of the policemen were also injured.

But the question arises, was there a need to shoot the bullets in the an attempt to puncture the tires ? Do let us know your opinion on the same !

Hindustan Motors is back with another initiative to keep their brand afloat. The Ambassador is back with BS IV variant and will be rolled out in August 2013 from HM’s Uttarpara plant in Hoogly.

The sale of BS III variants were banned by the Indian government in April 2010 however the BS IV variant will open up 17 more markets including Kolkata which is currently the big taxi segment for Hindustan Ambassador. The company also claims that the new car comes with an upgraded 1.5L Diesel engine which offers more torque yet same fuel economy.

The Ambassador has been certified as BS IV emissions compliant vehicle by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), Pune by clearing its mass emission, OBD II (onboard diagnostics) and other related tests as per Rule 115 of Central Motor Vehicles Rules (CMVR), 1989, effective April 2013.

Welcoming the development, HM’s managing director and CEO, Uttam Bose, said, “We had been working on upgrading our Ambassador 1.5-litre diesel car to match BS IV norms for over a year. We are happy that our efforts have borne fruit and we have received certification from ARAI after passing rigorous tests. This has demolished the myth that Hindustan Motors cannot upgrade its existing engines. Moreover, this opens hitherto forbidden markets where this vehicle commands enviable loyalty in the taxi segment. We expect our sales to grow significantly within a few months.”

Mahindra Two wheelers said it has already received a pretty good response for its Centuro motorcycle and has confirmed that they have received over 10,000 bookings. The largest Utility Vehicle maker, which acquired the Kinetic's plant in Pithampur near Indore and has tried all what they could do to make it a success.

Mahindra Centuro, a 110 cc bike with indigenously developed MCi-5 (Micro Chip ignited-5 curve) engine, was launched on July 1.

"Mahindra Centuro has garnered over 10,000 bookings in such a short period of time. At the same time, we are very aware of the enhanced customer expectations and are striving to meet and exceed them," Mahindra Two Wheelers' Executive Vice President Viren Popli said.

Centuro is the second bike launched by the home grown car maker, Mahindra after they launched Pantero early this year. While launching their bike, Centuro they had given an introductory discount for the first 10,000 customers. Those first 10,000 customers will get a special price of INR 44,000 instead of regular price of INR 45,000.

Saturday, 27 July 2013

Skoda India just confirmed that the new Octavia which forms a part of 6 new models to be launched in 2013 will be unveiled on 9th August 2013. Skoda’s Chairman of Board of Directors of SKODA Auto, Dr. H.C. Winfried Vahland will be here to unveil the new car.

The car has been found testing a couple of times including in Pune, Mumbai and Bangalore. The car has also been teased on Facebook by the Czech car maker.

There will be a lot more changes to this car and will be much improved version. The new car will be 90mm longer and 45mm wider than the current generation Laura and will have a huge 590 Liters boot space. The other details of new car are -

One labourer was killed and eight others were seriously injured after a gas cylinder exploded on Friday morning in an auto spare parts manufacturing factory, located in Bhoda Kalan village near IMT Manesar. The condition of four injured was reported to be critical. They were admitted to Medanta Medicity hospital in Gurgaon. Others are in Neelkanth hospital.

After the incident, on the instructions of deputy commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi, Pataudi SDM Manoj Khatri rushed to the site to assess the situation and talked to the company management and workers.

The incident took place in Alicon Castalloy Ltd on Friday morning around 9.30am, when a 33kg gas cylinder exploded, where the labourers were busy in work. In the accident, nine persons were injured.

One of the workers, identified as 38-year-old Rambabu Yadav, died during treatment in the hospital.

After inspecting the site of the accident, Khatri instructed the management to get a job for the deceased worker's wife as per her ability in the factory. The factory management told to the SDM that a team from their headquarters in Pune will reach here on Saturday and investigate the matter.

The other injured workers have been identified as Ravi Prakash Ranja, Anita Devi, Satya, Shyamdhar, Phool Singh, Krishan Lal, Vinod Sharma and Achhe Lal, which are admitted in two private hospitals in Gurgaon.

Ford EcoSport, a Compact Crossover launched in India on 26th June is already on a huge waiting list and here is the image from a dealership that confirms the same.

Also, we would also like to brief you that the petrol variant forms higher part of sales than its diesel counterpart. It also makes sense as the base petrol variant starts at just INR 5.59 Lac. On the other hand, the higher petrol variant 1.0L Petrol variant too is finding buyers and has a waiting period of 90-150 days.

Ford recently confirmed that the company received 30,000 bookings in just 17 days.

The Nissan Sunny, as is called in India or Versa / Almera, as called in some other parts of the world is a popular vehicle from the Japanese car maker but could not take up huge volumes in India.

The car maker recently facelifted its smaller sibling - Micra and hopes to attract some good numbers from it. Based on these lines, we expect the car maker could also launch Sunny facelift and plans to launch the same during mid 2014.

The Sunny facelift was first introduced in 2010 at Guangzhou Auto Show with certain changes done at its exteriors end - both at front and rear end. The rear involves changes in mildly modified bumper which means the overhanging part is now gone and also the new chrome grill is more wide as compared to the previous one - available as an accessory.

The changes at front includes chrome finish near both fog lamps and the major modifications comes in the form of tweaked design of headlamps whereas the previous ones looked simpler and bland, the new headlamp looks classy and modern.

The Chinese media are claiming a debut at the Chengdu Auto Show in September with sales expected to start by the end of the year. India and other markets should probably get it by mid of next year.

The effect of the rupee depreciation has now started letting the companies take harsh actions including some of them to hike prices across their existing range. Skoda India will soon hike the prices of the cars in India.

Though the cars are manufactured in India however a large content which goes into the car is being imported especially the engine and the gearbox. This increase in prices of their imported parts have left Skoda India with no choice than to pass on the price increase to their customers.

With rupee still depreciating you can expect other carmakers to follow the suit.

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

The Revenue department today clarified that the cars including Maruti Suzuki SX4 and Toyota Corolla Altis will attract the lower excise duty of 27 percent and not 30 percent as compared ton SUV's.

"...it is clarified that the afore-cited motor vehicles (Maruti SX4, Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla Altis), which are known as sedans, will attract the excise duty of 27 per cent as applicable to large segment cars", CBEC said in a circular.

While increasing the excise duty on SUVs to 30 per cent in the last Budget, the government has defined three features of the SUVs -- engine capacity of over 1500 cc, length more than 4,000 mm and ground clearance of 170 mm and above.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his Budget speech had said: "SUVs occupy greater road and parking space and ought to bear a higher tax. I propose to increase the excise duty on SUVs from 27 percent to 30 percent. However, the increase will not apply to SUVs registered as taxis."

Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker has now threatened to shut down its most modern facility at Manesar in India on the prospect of paying additional INR 500 Crore for its 600 acre land. The threat is significant as Maruti makes blockbuster models like the Swift hatchback and Dzire sedan at Manesar, which is also its sole base for making diesel engines.

"...If further enhancement is granted, the (Maruti) management may have to take a decision to discontinue the plant at Manesar," said counsels P S Patwalia and Abhishek Manu Singhvi while appearing for the company before the Supreme Court.

The higher compensation was awarded by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2011, and this had been contested by the landowners — who wanted higher award — and Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) in the Supreme Court. While the landowners wanted the enhanced compensation amount — granted by the high court — to be sweetened further, HSIIDC had contested the higher claim.

When contacted, a spokesperson for Maruti Suzuki refused to comment. Attempts to reach top officials of the company, including chief operating officer (administration) S Y Siddiqui, did not yield any result. The 2011 order, based on which HSIIDC raised a Rs 500 crore-plus demand on Maruti, had raised the compensation amount from Rs 28.15 lakh to Rs 37.40 lakh (per acre), leading to the huge recovery notice on the country's top carmaker.

Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Suzuki Group Chairman Mr. Osamu Suzuki is planning to visit India on 25th July 2013. Mr. Suzuki would be here in the capital to attend the board meeting of its Indian subsidiary Maruti Suzuki and also take stock of its operations here in India. This would be his third visit in India during this year.

Suzuki Motor is the majority owner of its largest subsidiary - Maruti Suzuki. The company in its effort to maintain the market share of 40% has been taking various initiatives here at its Indian subsidiary. The carmaker plans to launch 10 new cars from Indian factory until 2017-18 with the first one being a small car which would replace current A-Star and Estilo. The car is codemamed as YL7 and is scheduled for a festive season launch this year. The car will only be launched in Petrol variant.

The other new cars to be rolled out of Indian subsidiary includes Crossover version of SX4 - which would compete with likes of Ford EcoSport and Renault Duster. There are other SUV's and a commercial vehicle also planned for a launch in year 2015.

Maruti Suzuki is currently the largest single contributor to Suzuki's global share. The Indian subsidiary contributes 37% of total Suzuki output.

Sunday, 21 July 2013

TVS has been testing a scooter for a long time now for the Indian market. It is now believed that TVS has lent few test mules to its customers to test the vehicles and get their honest feedback. The images seen here could be one of such test mules.

The yet to be named TVS scooter will be powered by 110cc engine which develops 8 bhp of power. The scooter however will be little bigger in size than the current Wego to have a better unisex appeal. The scooter on an overall note looks similar to Honda Activa and thus hopes to compete in that segment. Also note the scooter has the rear fuel lid.

The TVS currently has Scooty pep and Wego however the new variant, as seen testing will be positioned higher than the two current models in market. Expect the new scooter to be launched anytime soon.

Saturday, 20 July 2013

Ford Mustang, next generation should be unveiled somewhere in 2014, however further news emerge that Ford will be producing 1000 units of special edition Mustang which will be called as 2014 1/2 or 2014.5 edition which would be having VIN apart from interesting body.

Mechanically, the car remains the same with 5.0 Liter V8 engine producing 450 bhp of power. Only 1000 units of Mustang are planned and no power boosters / performance upgrades will be installed.

The heat has been felt by almost all the automakers now. Some like Maruti and Mahindra and shutting their factories for couple of days while others like Hyundai and Honda are offering discounts.

Hyundai recently announced Joyful July discounts on i10 Era variant wherein you could get 50,000 off on Era variant of i10. The car priced at ex-showroom of INR 4,09,465 is now available at price of INR 3,59,990 only.

The offer exists for a limited period - we assume it should continue till end of July 2013.

2014 Honda Jazz, the third generation of the hatchback has been revealed in images now. The car is called Fit in certain countries and will be making its way into the showrooms in Japan first during September this year. The car will be displayed at 2014 Auto Expo at Greater Noida and will subsequently make its way into showrooms in India during mid 2014.

The third generation marks major improvements in exterior styling, interior design as well as driving. As soon as you see the car from outside, you would realize the aggressive stance that Honda has taken while designing this car and as soon as you step inside the car, you will be greeted by large touch screen system with touch sensitive controls. We hope the Japanese carmaker brings touch screen system to India as well.

The dimensions of the hatchback have been kept as previous generation but the wheelbase has been increased by 2 inches and will add to current 90 inch spacious wheelbase.

Honda Jazz is one of the most spacious and ergonomically designed hatchback with class leading fuel efficiency. However unfortunately the car was removed from Honda India's line up to make additional space for production of Honda's Amaze. The new generation of Honda Jazz will make its way into the Indian market again during mid 2014.

Friday, 19 July 2013

Honda has planned to reveal the Official Images of its upcoming SUV at Detroit International Motor Show however here are the leaked images of the car yet to be unveiled. The car in discussion is a Jazz based Compact SUV and will compete with Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport as major rivals.

As Honda has always been doing with Brio, Amaze and Jazz, the upcoming SUV would also be a blend of modern and spacious interiors. The front fascia of the car looks fantastic and gives a mean looking image. The wheel arches too resemble CR-V.

More details will be shared as and when we get our hands on that. But for sure, if the production version of the car looks similar to concept car in pictures, the car could do wonders for the Japan based automaker.

Honda Indonesia has officially revealed the design sketches of 2014 Brio based MPV at the Mid Year Media Gathering event in Jakarta. The new LMPV concept will make its world debut for the first time at the 2013 Indonesia Motor Show, which will be held on September 19 to 29 in Jakarta.

Codenamed as 2NH in Indonesia, the low hanging roof MPV and that's why called LMPV (Low - MPV). The front fascia including the headlight and grill resembles the current Brio. The MPV inherits the curves from Brio hatchback and extends it till the rear, something similar to what we saw inn Amaze.

Honda says the new model is specifically designed for the Indonesian market and will be the first Honda models in the MPV class in the Indonesian domestic market. LMPV is a seven-passenger MPV with three-row seats configuration and featuring roomy cabin and high safety standards. According to Honda, this new model will bring innovative design and driving pleasure.

“Honda LMPV Concept will be a special product for Honda in Indonesia because it’s specifically designed to suit the needs of consumers and the road character in Indonesia. Honda LMPV Concept will also be produced in Indonesia, and became the first product of the new Honda plant in Karawang which we plan to begin operating in early 2014″, said Tomoki Uchida (President Director of PT Honda Prospect Motor).

The car is expected to carry 1.5L 100PS Diesel engine whereas the car would also carry 1.5L new generation petrol engine. The car is expected to be launched in India in July 2014.

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Ashok Leyland, the Hinduja group company and a major Heavy duty maker in Indian market has started exporting Dost LCV to SAARC nations. Dost, has already been sold 50,000 units in the country.

To our surprise, the company had already started exporting Dost LCV to export markets in March 2013 only and also plans to export another 2.5T vehicle to export nations. As of now, export of Dost stands at 1,200 units.

Mr. V Sumantran, Vice Chairman, Ashok Leyland said -

Typically we started with the SAARC and over time we will take it to the other markets. So far we have entered the SAARC and now we are looking at 3 other markets which we will announce in the next 2-3 months. About 1,200 units have been exported. The exports commenced sometime in the months of February-March this year.

The major competitor of Dost still remains Tata Ace and Mahindra Maxximo in Indian market.

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

Maruti Suzuki, owing to bad market conditions had temporarily removed 200 workers and also stopped the third shift at their Manesar plant. The agitated workers and villagers around the area were on protest day before yesterday following which the District Magistrate has imposed section 144 in the area.

As per this, assembling of five or more persons and carrying weapons have been prohibited and will be prosecuted under section 188. This will be with effect from tomorrow in areas of IMT Manesar, Maruti Company at Manesar, Devi Lal Park Manesar, National Highway 8 and Mini Secretariat Gurgaon. Holding any kind of procession and dharna at these places has also been banned.

"Keeping in view the maintenance of peace, tranquillity and to avert chaotic situation or untoward incident, law and order problem, inconvenience to citizens and business entities, these orders have been enforced in public interest," Vidyarthi said.

Since villagers and panchayats of various villages namely Kasan, Dhana, Bas Padamka and Bas Kusla have given their memorandums to the Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner, in which they have informed that they will oppose any demonstration or dharna in IMT Manesar area, he said.

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

The Indian Auto Industry is for sure going through a tough time with all the segments showing negative growth expect the SUV segment whose growth has fallen to 19% from 52% as seen in last year. However, as we already told you during our forecast for year 2013-14, that the two launches would see some good amount of bookings and would certainly add to volumes of the Industry - Honda Amaze and Ford EcoSport.

Ford's one strategy, unveiled last year in India has finally worked. The new offering from Ford India - EcoSport has worked and starts with a price tag of INR 5.59 Lac has certainly been recognized as a value for money offering and the proof is 30,000 bookings received in just 17 days of launch.

The company officials claim, despite the recall of about 972 units of diesel variant of EcoSport, there has been no let off on bookings at the dealerships. The bookings have bettered small car Figo, which received about 15,000 to 20,000 bookings in 100 days.

The car is currently running on a waiting period of 3-6 months. However, as per sources the car maker will higher the capacity from 5,000 currently to 7,500 from next month to reduce the waiting period.

Joginder Singh, president and managing director, Ford India said, "Consumers are appreciating the value-for-money proposition that we are offering in the EcoSport's compelling and smart package. The Ford India team is working closely with the suppliers at our Chennai facility to enhance output of the Ecosport to reduce the waiting period and to meet the high demand."

Renault Group which includes the brands like Renault, Dacia and Renault-Samsung combinedly registered a sales of 1.3 million units during the first half of the year 2013. The sales units is 1.9% less as compared to the last year sales. As per the carmaker, this is much better looking at the current European Industry, which registered a de-growth of 6.7%. The French carmaker says all thanks to our globalization efforts, we registered much better growth.

Of this 1.3 million units registered, Renault SUV - Duster registered a sales of 189,000 units alone, this being the best seller this year. The car was launched in India on 4th July 2012 and since then it gas registered more than 100,000 units of sales here. The car is also exported from Indian factory under Dacia brand.

It seems like all the three German luxury carmakers are getting aggressive with their strategies, and day-by-day the battle of becoming the number 1 luxury auto maker is getting more furious. Couple of days back, Audi has launched the sportier, stronger and responsive 2013 RS5 in India, and announced the launch of new Audi A6 on July 12. Now, its time for Mercedes-Benz India's answer, the company has already launched a series of new vehicles, and it is speculated that it will launch the performance packed E-Class with AMG touch on July 25. This model will come to India as Completely built Units (CBUs).

Under the hood, the E63 AMG has a 5.5-litre V8 that develops 550bhp and 700Nm of top torque, and the engine is mated to a 4matic setup that transmits powers to all-four wheel drive. The transmission for the 2014 model will be a 7-speed speedshift automatic gearbox. The previous generation model of the E63 AMG was powered by a naturally aspirated 6.2 litre engine that develops around 30bhp lesser than the current lineup.

The AMG version of the E-Class will feature a special AMG "A-wing" making the lower intakes and the twin-blade grille positioned just above it. A black finished rear diffuser and an AMG exclusive dual exhaust setup are also added to the rear. The inside of the car too gets the AMG touches like silver seatbelts and Alcantara inserts to the Nappa leather steering wheel and others. The exact pricing details of the E63 AMG is yet to be disclosed, but we expect it to be priced similar to its competition 2013 Audi RS5, at Rs. 96.81 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

If this is the new Honda's Brio MPV, Maruti Suzuki is for sure gonna tighten up its belts now ! After the successful launch and already a huge waiting list for the latest Amaze, Maruti Suzuki Dzire's volumes are already down to 12,000+ units last month. Mind it, Honda will be the most successful carmaker (to register highest growth figures) in year 2013.

Now, coming back to Honda's MPV - Honda Brio Estate, these are the probable renderings of the upcoming car. The Brio MPV is being developed by PT Honda Astra Motor, the Indonesian subsidiary of Honda, under the supervision of R&D engineers from Japan. The MPV is expected to be ready for its public premiere at the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) which is set to take place in September this year. The car could then be previewed at 2014 Auto Expo.

The car will enter production at Honda’s upcoming facility in West Java, Indonesia, sometime in 2014. The Brio MPV will compete with the Maruti Ertiga in India as well as Indonesia along with Chevrolet's Enjoy. The car is expected to carry the same Diesel engine - 3 cyl 1.5L 100PS engine which is certainly more powerful and good to drive than Fiat's 1.3L Diesel engine.

So, what do you have to say about the Honda's Brio Estate MPV aka Ertiga rival.

Chevrolet Brazil, a couple of days teased the Images of its upcoming Tracker aka Trax Compact SUV which is also expected to be launched in India during end 2014.

In a video message sent by GM Brazil president, Mr. Jaime Ardila, he confirms the sales of this Compact SUV to begin this year. Also, as per the sources, by the end of July, the company will start training its dealership staff and slowly we will start revealing the information and features of the new car to you as well.

By the end of August or mid September, expect the car maker to launch the Compact SUV in Brazil. The SUV is 4.24 meters long and 1.77 meters wide, with a wheelbase of 2.55 meters and trunk capacity of 358 liters. If we look at it dimension wise, the Compact SUV is in between the size of Duster and EcoSport, the two popular and competing cars as of now in Brazilian market. Check out the Video message here.

Monday, 15 July 2013

Datsun makes a grand entry after its lengthy holidays ! Just as we write this post, Mr. Carlos Ghosn, Chairman of Renault-Nissan global alliance along with Mr. Vincent Cobee, Brand Head of Datsun announces the first car - "GO".

The car will be the completely engineered product in India and is all set to launch in January 2014. The car will be positioned below the recently launched Micra Active and is set to compete with Maruti yet to be launched YL7 (replacement of A Star and Estilo), Chevrolet Beat and similar. Just looking at the car, we cannot say that there is some sort of cost cutting on the car.

“Datsun will bring competitive products and services, modern and aspirational, while at the same time reassuring, providing superior value and specifically developed for the emerging and ambitious new Middle Class in high-growth markets. The Datsun cars will be locally developed with the support of Nissan Motor Company engineers and stylists and will be locally produced”, said Vincent Cobee, Head of Datsun.

The K2 will also be joined by another smaller hatchback I2 sometime during festive season in 2014. The car is expected to be launched at price range of INR 2.99-3.25 Lac

The interiors of the car share some of the features from Nissan's Micra like the door opening and closing handles and finish reminds of the Nissan's vehicle. However, as we already told you the front seat of Datsun would resemble of Ambassador's front two seats joined and the gear box on the dashboard.